Wrapper feed mechanism



Jan. 20, 1959 s. H. KRAFT ET AL WRAPPER FEED MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed June 19, 1951 Jan. 20, 1959 Y G.,H. KRAFT ET AL 2,869,868

WRAPPER FEED MECHANISM Original Filed June 19, 1951 a Sheets-Sheet 2WWW/14 W5g/m44e70 Z fielf i-Mm Jan. 20, 1959 G. H. KRAFT. ET AL 8WRAPPER FEED MECHANISM Original Filed June 19, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 3Jan- 20, 1959 G. H. KRAFT ET AL 2,869,868

WRAPPER FEED MECHANISM Original Filed June 19, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 qaeagez wdzwf z wwjraa'ead Jan. 20, 1959 G. H. KRAFTEET AL WRAPPER FEEDMECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed June 19 1951 W i l 1959 -G. H.KRAFT ET AL 2,869,868

WRAPPER FEED MECHANISM Original Filed June 19. 1951 6 Sheets-Shet -6zkwgywgdmeza ;& 1m Y/b ge/Z J w Ma; Mm

United States WRAPPER FEED MECHANISM George Howard Kraft, Wilmette,Harry W. Grossen, Chicago, and Kenneth Bell, Marengo, 11]., assignors toNational Dairy Products-Corporation, a corporation of Delaware 6 Claims.(Cl. 271-31) The present invention, in general, relates to a wrapperfeed mechanism, and in particular to a means for storing a stack ofwrappers and feeding'the wrappers one-by-one into an automatic packagingmachine. 'This patent is a division of Patent No. 2,790,287 which isassigned to the assignee of this invention. 7

The present invention may be used with any automatic packagingmachine,but is particularly'adapted to be used with a packaging machinefor packaging cream cheese which is in 'a' heated, fiowable state.Patent No. 2,790,287, describes a packaging machine which may be used topackage cream cheese.

An object of the present invention is to provide a means 'for storing astack ofwrappers and feeding the wrappers one by one into a packagingmachine which is automatic .in operation and which is-ada'pte'd topackagematerials .in foilor'likewrappers. Another object of 'the presentinvention is to provide awrappenfeed mechanism which is simpleandeconomical to manufacture.

Otherobjects .and advantages of the invention will be .apparenttro'm'the'following description and accompanying drawings.

1 In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front ,elevational view of *oneembodiment of a wrapperfeed mechanism in accordance with the present invention forming a partof an automatic packaging machine of the type described in Patent No.2,790,287, only a portion ofthe machine being-illustrated;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the wrapper feedmechanism .andpackagingmachine portion shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the wrapper feed mechanism shown inFigures 1 and 2;

Figure 4' is a fragmentary, elevational view taken along L line 44 ofFigure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5,5 of Figure 4; 1

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along.line.66 of ig '5;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Figure 5 showingthe rack and pinion mechanism associated with the wrapper feedmechanism;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the'ratchet-pawl drive associatedwith" the wrapper feed mechanism;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the ratchet-pinion supporting bracket;

Figure 10 is a perspectiveview of the wrapper feed mechanism housingwith a 'side panel separated from the housing;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary;sectional view of the needlehold-downmechanism which constitutes a part of the wrapper. feedmechanism taken generally along line 1111 of Figure 3; and

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken along line 1212 of Figure 11.

Referring to the drawings, the portion of thepackaging machineillustrated in "Figures 1 and 2 includes a main frame 100 which supportsall of the operating elements of atent l ice the packaging machine.The-frame 100 includes longitudinally extending, vertically-disposedplates 102 and 104, a narrow, horizontally extending top plate 106attached to each end of the plates 102 and 104 by suitable means such asscrews 108, a plurality of transverse cross members 110 extendingbetween the side plates adjacent their upper end-and attached thereto bysuitable means such as screws 11.2, and vertical legs 114 which aresuitably attached to the side plates by welding or the like.

An endless conveyor 116 which moves around-a closed pathon .the frame100 carries spaced-apart conveyor erating stations of the packagingmachine where the'steps of the packaging process are'c'arried through.The wrapper-feedingmechanism in the illustrated embodiment is appliedtothe first station of the packaging machine. This station, which iscalled the wrapper transfer and forming station, is describedbrieflybelow. 'The action of the various operating stations of thepackaging machine on a flexible wrapper 192 is described more fully inPatent Nit/2,790,287.

The conveyor first carries .an empty container 166 to a wrapper transferandfforming station where the fiat, rec

'tangular-shaped wrapper l92 is transferred from 'awrapper-:rnagazine194, :constructed in accordance with the presentiinvention, to theuppersurface of the appropriately designed forming die 196. A formingblock 198 then descends on the wrapper 192 forcing the wrapper throughthe die'196 into the container';166. As the wrapper'moves through theforming die 196, it is trans- .formed into the form of an openreceptacle 200.

- -.The wrapper feeding mechanism includes an opentopped magazinehousing 194- having a'removable side panel 244, a-vertically-slidable,horizontally-disposed.platform 246 within the housing 194, a drive meansfor. moving the platform withinthe housing, a meansfor preventing theplatform from rising within the housing when the flexible wrappers 192extend to the top. ofthe. magazine housing194, and a' hold-down meanswhich prevents more than one wrapper 192 from being removed from the topof the magazine "housing 194 during a single cycle of the transfermechanism.

'The magazine'housing.194 is'proportioned tol hold a stack offle'xiblewrappers 192 and includes a back plate 248 which is attached to theframe ofithe packaging machine, as by bolts" 2 5.0. A removable sidepanel .244

having a side flange 252 and an'outwardly extending,

knurled handle 254 is adapted to be attached to the magazine housing 194by a; removable screw 256which extends through a slot 258 in thesideflan ge 252 and into the backplate 2480f the magazine housing 194.

The vertically movable platform 246 positioned within the'interior ofthe magazine housing 194 has a collar 262 center onits bottom andfixedly attached thereto. A vertically extending rack 264 which isrigidly connected to the collar 262 by a pin 266 extends downwardlythrough the base of the magazine housing 194 and through a downwardlyextending bearing member 268 within'a vertically-disposed cylindricalsleeve 2'70. Thesleeve270 isconnected to a supporting bracket 272 whichis'fixe'dly attached to the magazine housing 194. V

veyor plates118. The containers 166 are proportioned The verticalmovement of the platform 246 is controlled by a pinion 274 which engagesthe vertically extending rack 264. The pinion 274 is fixedly positionedon a shaft 276 which is journalled in bearings 278 which are locatedwithin the arms of a supporting bracket 280. 'The bracket 280, which isillustrated in Fig. 9, is fixed I rack 264.

An upstanding supporting link 294 which is rotatably journalled on theshaft 276 acts as a support for one end of an adjustable, horizontallyextending link 298 and for an arm 300. The shaft 276 also extendsthrough a ratchet wheel 302 which is fixedly attached to the inner endof the collar 286. An outwardly extending rod 304 is attached to theface of the ratchet wheel 302 for manually rotating the ratchet wheel302. The movable plat form 246 is normally prevented from movingdownward by a holding dog 306 which engages the ratchet wheel 302. Theholding dog 306 is pivoted about a pin 308 which is attached to anL-shaped supporting bracket 310. As seen in Fig. 3, the supportingbracket 310 is attached by screws 312 to the bracket 280. The forwardend of the holding dog 306 includes a pawl 312 which is adapted toengage the ratchet wheel 302 so as to permit the ratchet wheel 302 andthe shaft 276 to rotate in one direction only. The pawl 312 of theholding dog 306 is normally biased towards the ratchet wheel 302 by aspring 314 which is attached to pins on the rearward end of the holdingdog 306 and on the bracket 310. When it is desired to lower the movableplatform 246, the holding dog 306 can be rotated so as to lift the pawl312 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 302. A pin 316 whichextends outwardly from the forward face of the holding dog 306 providesa convenient means for manually rotating the holding dog 306.

Under certain conditions, i. e. when the wrapper foils fall a givendistance below the top of the magazine housing 194, the ratchet wheel302 is also engageable by a pawl 318 on the arm 300. The arm 300 isrotatably journalled on a pin 320 which extends through the supportinglink 294 and one end of the adjustable link 298. The link 298 isconstructed of two members 322 and 324 connected together by a nut andscrew 326. A slot 328 is provided in the member 322 for adjusting thehorizontal length of the link 298.

A collar member 328 containing three outwardly extending arms 330, 332,and 334 which are at right angles to each other is rotatably supportedon a rod 336 which is attached to the main frame 100 by a nut and washerassembly 338 (see Fig. 3). The end of the arm 330 extends upwardly andis rotatably connected adjacent its end to the link 298 by a pin 340.The arm 332 extends downwardly and rotatably supports a cam roller 342adjacent its end, which roller is adapted to engage a cam 344 on theshaft 140. The arm 334 extends horizontally below a rotatable shaft 346.A spring 348 on the shaft 346 biases the shaft against the arm 334 so asto retain the cam roller 342 in contact with the cam 344. In operation,the rotating cam 344 imparts an oscillating motion to the collar member328, which motion is transmitted through the arm 330 to the link 298,thereby imparting a back-and-forth movement to the arm 330 and the pawl318.

The pawl 318 on the arm 300 is held out of engagement with the ratchetwheel 302 by a hook 350 which engages and lifts the arm 300 unless thefoil wrappers 192 fall a given distance below the top of the magazinehousing 194. The hook 350 is integral with a rod 352 which is slidablein a bracket 354 connected to the forward face of the wrapper magazinehousing 194 and which is connected at its upper end to a pin 356 on anarm 358. The arm 358 is pivoted at its outer end to a bracket 360attached to the forward face of the magazine housing 194. A roller 362is rotatably connected to the inner end of the arm 358 which extendsover the surface of the foil wrappers 192 which lie within the magazinehousing 194. As seen in Fig. 5, the roller 362 rests on the surface ofthe wrappers 192, thereby controlling the position of the arm 358 andthe rod 352. As the wrappers 192 are removed from the magazine housing194 the roller 362 moves downwardly causing the arm 358 and the hook 350to descend, thereby lowering the reciprocating'arm 300 which carries thepawl 318. Even tually, the pawl 318 will engage the teeth of the ratchetwheel 302 and will then rotate the ratchet wheel 302 clockwise onenotch, thereby raising the platform 246 and the wrappers 192. As thewrappers 192 are raised the roller 362 will move upwardly, therebycausing the hook 350 to rise, and the arm 300 will therefore again moveupwardly, moving the pawl 318 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel302.

In order to assure that only one wrapper 192 is removed from the wrappermagazine 194 during each cycle of the transfer mechanism, a hold-downmechanism 364 is attached to the top of the wrapper magazine 194, asshown in Figs. 3, 10, 11 and 12. The hold-down mechanism 364 includes anL-shaped bracket 366 which is attached to the right side of the magazinehousing 194 adjacent the forward and top edge thereof by screws 368. Thebracket 366 extends forwardly and upwardly of the magazine housing 194,as seen in Fig. 11. An arm 370 is pivoted on the screw 372 threaded tothe top of the bracket 366 and extends over the edge of the magazinehousing 194.. The arm 370 is separated from the bracket 366 by a bearingcollar 372. A downwardlyinclined needle 374 is fixedly positioned withinthe inner end of the arm 370 by the set screw 376. The arm 370 is biasedby a spring 378 which is attached at its upper end to a pin 380 on thearm 370, and at its lower end to a pin 382 on the bracket 366 so thatthe point of the needle 374 extends within the wrapper magazine housing194. An adjustable stop 384 having a slot 386 is connected to thebracket 366 by a screw 388. The upper end of the stop 384 is bent so asto extend beneath the arm 370 to prevent the arm 370 from extendingbelow a fixed point. The stop 384 is positioned so that the needle 374contacts the surface of the uppermost foil wrapper 192 with a sufiicientdownward force so as to penetrate the face of the uppermost wrapper 192to be taken from the magazine housing 194, which will prevent the secondwrapper from being removed from the magazine housing 194. To operateeffectively, the point of the needle 374 must be sufficiently sharp soas to make a small slit in the uppermost Wrapper when that sheet isremoved from the magazine housing 194 but must not penetrate through thesecond wrapper.

To insert wrappers 192 within the magazine housing 194, one must firstremove the side panel 244, rotate the arm 300 around the pin 320 untilthe back of the arm 300 rests on a pin support 390 on the link 298, andlift the holding dog 306 from the ratchet wheel 302. After the two pawls312 and 318 are disengaged from the ratchet wheel 302, the weight of theplatform 246 will generally cause the platform 246 to drop, or one canrotate the ratchet wheel 302 by means of the outwardly extending rod 304so as to lower the platform 246 at a slower speed than generally resultswhen it is allowed to fall under its own weight. When the holding dog306 is released, it will again engage the ratchet wheel 302 so as toprevent a further downward movement of the movable platform 2416. Thewrappers 192 can then be inserted in the magazine housing 194 on theupper surface of the platform 246. After the wrappers 192 are 'placed inthe magazine housing 194," the removable panel 244 is 'again placed inposition in the side of the magazine housing 194, and the arm 590 isrotated back'to its original position. As thewrappers -192 are below thetop of the magazine housing'194,'the removable platform can be manuallyraised by rotating the ratchet wheel 302 in a clockwise direction by therod'304.

Any suitable means maybe used 'tofeed the wrappers one by one from thetop'of the magazine. One means which may vbeused is the wrapper transfermechanism described fully in Patent No. 2,790,287, which is especiallyadapted to remove a single'wrapper from the wrapper magazine --194-andto position thewrapper 192 on the forming die 1%. The transfer'mechanism includes a transfer' arnr- 39-2 consisting of a 'ushapedheadsection 394 and an-extending arm section 396, and a means for movingthe'transfer" arm 392*between the wrapper magazine 194 and the formingdie 196. The head section 394 -isproportioned-to extend within theboundaries of the-wrapper 192 adjacentthree sides thereof. The

'head section 394 -and-the-arm-section 396 hav e in'nercommunicatingpassageways which are adapted to -be intermittentlymaintained under iva'cuum. A resilient suction cup 402 is connected tothe lower side of the head section 394 adjacent the free end of each ofthe legs of the head section 394. The suction cups dill each have apassageway which communicates with the passageway in the interior of thehead section 394.

In operation, the transfer arm 392 is initially adjacent the uppersurface of one of the wrappers 192 in the wrapper magazine 194, andgrips the Wrapper 192 with the head of the suction cup 402. Thepassageway in the transfer arm 392 is then connected to a source ofvacuum, and the transfer arm 392 is then raised slightly in a verticaldirection by suitable linkages and rotated so as to position the headsection 394 intermediate the forming block 198 and the forming head 196.The transfer arm 392 is next lowered by the downward movement ofsuitable linkages so that the wrapper 192 rests on the upper surface ofthe forming die 196. The vacuum on the suction cup is then released,thus releasing the hold on the wrapper 192. The transfer arm 392 is thenraised and returned to its previous position above the magazine housing194 where it is again lowered until the suction cups 402 are again incontact with the surface of a wrapper 192 within the wrapper magazine194, and the cycle is then repeated.

The described wrapper feed mechanism may be varied considerably withrespect to many of its structural details and operating mechanisms.Hence, the scope of the invention as defined by the claims should not belimited to specific details in arrangements herein disclosed but shouldbe interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the state of the priorart.

We claim:

1. In a packaging machine of the class described, a housing for guidinga stack of wrappers, means for feeding wrappers one by one from the topof a wrapper stack in said housing, a platform vertically movable withinsaid housing for vertically movably supporting a stack of wrappers insaid housing, connections between said ratchet wheel and said platformwhereby rotation of said ratchet wheel in one direction will effectupward movement of said platform, a pawl normally engaging said ratchetwheel to prevent rotation of said ratchet wheel in the other direction,whereby said platform is normally held against downward movement, asecond pawl for engaging and rotating said ratchet wheel in platformelevating direction, and means engageable with the top of a stack ofblanks on said platform and connected to said second pawl to causeoperative engagement said second pawl with said ratchet wheel only whenthe top of the stack of blanks is lowered to a predetermined level bythe successive removal of blanks from the stack by said feeding means.

a rotatably mounted ratchet wheel,

stack, a generally vertically extending, ing, a vertically movableplatform within said housing for ve'rtically movably supporting thestack of wrappers in said housing, means for effecting upward movementof said platform and wrapper stack to position the top of the stacksubstantially at a predetermined elevation, said means comprising adriving element which is normally reciprocated through a path of travelwhich is of the length required to impart a predetermined increment ofupward movement to said platform, a feeler which engages the top ofsaid'wrapper stack, and means interconnecting said feeler and drivingelement'and operative to hold said driving element in an inoperativeposition during its reciprocation as aforesaid until the top'of thewrapperstack falls to a predetermined, lowered elevation as an incidentto the removal of a plurality of-wrappers'from the top of said stack.

3. In a packaging machine of 'theclass described having means for =storing'-*a stack" of 'flat, 'flexible wrappers and forfeedingsaidwfappersone by one from the top of such stack, a generally vertically extending,opentopped housing, a horizontal platform mounted for vertical movementwithin said housing, said housing being proportioned so as to verticallyslidably contain said stack of wrappers on said platform, means formoving said platform and wrapper stack upwardly within said housing, andmeans constantly in engagement with the top of said stack of wrappersand operatively connected to said platform and stack moving means tocontrol the operativeness thereof so that upward movement of saidplatform and stack is effected only at intervals when the elevation ofthe top of said stack is lowered to a predetermined level as an incidentto the feeding of a plurality of wrappers from the top of the stack.

4. In a packaging machine of the class described having means forstoring a stack of flat, flexible wrappers and for feeding said wrappersone by one from the top of such stack, a generally vertically extending,opentopped housing, a vertically movable platform within said housingfor vertically movably supporting the stack of wrappers in said housing,a vertically slidably mounted rack depending from said platform, arotatably mounted pinion in operative engagement with said rack formoving said rack and said platform vertically, a ratchet wheel rigidlyconnected to said pinion, a pawl releasably engaged with said ratchetwheel to hold the same against platform-lowering rotation, cam operatedmeans for moving said platform upwardly to position the top of saidstack at a predetermined elevation, said cam operated means comprising areciprocating arm, a pawl carried by said arm and adapted to engage saidratchet wheel for rotating the same to move said platform upwardly, afeeler which engages the top of said wrapper stack, and meansinterconnecting said feeler and said last-mentioned pawl to hold thelatter out of operative engagement with said ratchet wheel until the topof said wrapper stack falls to a predetermined lowered elevation as anincident to the removal of a plurality of wrappers from the top of suchstack.

5. In a packaging machine of the class described having means forstoring a stack of flat, flexible wrappers and for feeding said wrappersone by one from the top of such stack, a generally vertically extending,opentopped housing having a base, a removable side panel providingaccess to the interior of said housing to facilitate loading therof, anda vertically movable platform within said housing for vertically movablysupporting the stack of Wrappers in said housing, a rack depending fromsaid platform and slidable vertically through the base of said housing,a rotatably mounted pinion in operative engagement with said rack formoving said rack and said platform vertically, a ratchet wheel rigidlyc011- nected to said pinion, a. pawl releasably engaged with saidratchet wheel to hold the same against platformlowering rotation, camoperated means for moving said platform upwardly to position the top ofsaid stack at a predetermined elevation, said cam operated meanscomprising a reciprocating arm, a pawl carried by said arm and normallyyieldingly urged into engagement with said ratchet wheel for rotatingthe same to move said platform upwardly, a feeler which engages the topof said wrapper stack, and a rod operatively interconnecting said feelerand said last-mentioned pawl to hold the latter out of engagement withsaid ratchet wheel until the top of said wrapper stack falls to apredetermined lowered elevation as an incident to the removal of aplurality of wrappers from the top of said stack.

6. In a packaging machine of the class described, a generally verticallyextending, open-topped housing for storing a stack of flat, flexiblewrappers, a horizontal platform mounted for vertical movement in saidhousing for vertically movably supporting the wrapper stack in saidhousing, means for moving said platform and wrapper stack upwardlywithin said housing to adjust the top of said stack to a predeterminedelevation, means for gripping the wrapper on the top of said stack andremoving said top Wrapper edgewise from said stack, and holding meansfor preventing more thanone wrapper from being removed at One time, saidholding means comprising a needle which engages said top wrapper, saidneedle having its wrapper engaging end sharpened and being biased tocause said needle to at least partially penetrate the engaged wrapperand form a slit therein incident to said edgewise removal of saidwrapper.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS MaceyMay 26, 1953

